Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 391

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 391
After that, I proceeded through the surgeries one after another.
Maintaining composure while moving with urgency—it was no simple task.
Yet if I failed, the patients would die.
Fortunately, I completed all the surgeries without error and safely, though one patient ultimately had to pass away.
The joy of the surviving patients’ families mingled with the wailing of the deceased’s family, churning together like mud.
“Thank you. Thank you! Baek-ui Sinryong! Divine Doctor!”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Please, allow us to express our gratitude.”
“It’s fine.”
I pulled the muscles of my face to decline as gently as possible.
Beside me, the deceased’s family members were embracing the corpse and wailing.
Normally, they should have been separated, but I lacked the resources to do so now.
“The body must be cremated.”
“Cremated?! Surely you don’t mean to send our father to the burning hell realm?!”
“Sky burial cannot be performed.”
Ideally, no one should even touch this corpse.
But there was no way to prevent it now.
“Veiled Madman! Do you truly ask me to commit such filial impiety…!”
At that moment, Sama Hyeon approached.
“Oh, hyeong? You worked hard. Why is this man so angry?”
“Didn’t you just tell me to cremate my father!”
“Sir~ just believe in Buddhism, yeah? You can convert right now.”
“That’s not even—”
In that instant, Sama Hyeon gripped the stone wall.
Crack.
Without even channeling inner force, the wall caved inward from his grip strength alone.
With Sama Hyeon’s handprint embedded in the stone wall, the man finally fell silent.
“Your father wouldn’t want his son to die such a meaningless death. You know that, right?”
“…”
Sama Hyeon then sent me a transmission.
[Hyeong, don’t do too much.]
[Hyeon.]
[You’re already at your limit. Leave the rest to me and focus on the next task.]
I wiped my eyes.
[Isn’t disease prevention about everyone bearing a little inconvenience to stop the spread?]
[Exactly. That’s what prevention is.]
[Then I can’t show this man special treatment. If even one person performs sky burial, everyone else will do the same. Do you think this will be the only death? I honestly don’t think so. And frankly, if it weren’t for you, I would’ve killed every last one of these bastards.]
At those words, my expression slowly cooled.
Sama Hyeon immediately sent the next transmission.
[A joke~]
[Don’t make jokes like that, just in case.]
[Understood. Anyway, go ahead and do whatever comes next—work or rest.]
Sama Hyeon sent his brother away like that.
‘Precarious, precarious indeed~ Honestly.’
When he’s strong, he seems like he could face a million armies, but at times like this, he worries people.
So there’s nothing to be done about it. Sama Hyeon decided to do what he did best.
“Yes. That’s right, sir. Tell me. You’ll believe in Buddhism with me, won’t you? That’s why I’m not killing living things right now~ because of Buddha.”
“But even so….”
“Let’s do this instead. Then sir, if you don’t believe, I won’t believe either. Then I can kill living things, right?”
Crack-
Sama Hyeon cracked his knuckles one by one.
Hands that could turn stone walls to dust.
Threatening commoners isn’t something a warrior should do, but what do I care?
I’m heterodox.
If a heterodox practitioner is going to handle things the heterodox way, what’s the problem?
“So sir, what’s your religion?”
“B-Buddhism….”
At those words, Sama Hyeon’s eyes curved in a smile.
“Good. Then, may you be reborn in paradise~”
Namo Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.
* * *
‘Even if the surgery is complete, the epidemic itself requires at least ten to twenty more days of treatment. And if any of my doctors fall ill….’
I stepped outside, thinking such thoughts.
Then.
Screeeee-
Noeji cried out and landed squarely on my head.
Then it deliberately made a sharp clicking sound.
This clicking meant people were approaching from at least half a day’s distance away.
“Man Seon!”
At my shout, Man Seon came running from afar in a single breath.
“Yes! Patriarch!”
“It’s time to set up the formation. We need to prepare for battle.”
“Already?”
Man Seon’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
“In the dense forest, they run faster than horses. It wouldn’t be strange if they’ve already finished gathering. However, since they’ve also seen our formation, they’ll certainly devise a strategy.”
“Understood, Patriarch!”
“Yes?”
“I only wish you would rest, even if just for a moment. I have never heard word that you’ve gone to sleep. As for meals….”
At those words, I nodded.
“Do not worry. I am distributing resources properly and managing the situation.”
I know intellectually that the young man before me would not make mistakes.
Yet at the same time, I am aware that his body is wasting away.
I also understood how difficult it was for him to maintain his health in these circumstances.
Right now, this place cannot be held without me, and only I can possibly defend it.
‘He knows that too… which is why….’
Man Seon barely managed to part his lips.
“I understand.”
* * *
I entered the temporary quarters and took a brief rest.
‘I need to clear my head to minimize casualties.’
If any of my allies were injured, I would need to treat them.
But as Sang Ui-won said, I lacked anesthetics for surgery, antibiotics, and blood supplies.
I cultivated my qi while resting.
Fortunately, thanks to the Precious Jade’s effects, my body’s recovery was faster than anyone else’s.
‘Hmm… the balance is tilting again.’
I was beginning to give up. No matter how much I redirected my consciousness with the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, it continued to tilt and tilt again.
‘I need to rest once this is over.’
Until this ends, I will continue to suffer.
After all, it would be wrong for me alone to be comfortable in the midst of war.
So there was no choice.
After finishing my cultivation, I placed a simple preserved ration into my mouth.
‘Thank goodness I made this in advance.’
The preserved porridge rations I had prepared and distributed earlier.
I never imagined that something made with such contingencies in mind would prove this useful.
The preparation method was simple enough—just drop it into boiling water.
If one was skilled in the Five Elements Divine Art at Sang Ui-won’s level, even heating with internal fire would suffice.
The nutrition was good, but the taste… left much to be desired.
Chewing on it, I had a mad thought.
‘I absolutely must add MSG to these porridge rations.’
The most infuriating aspect of war was the lack of decent food.
Fine dining? The restaurants would never open.
Snacks? Brick-like military biscuits awaited.
Stress relief? Only alcohol. And a bottle of liquor costs more than a sword.
‘Damn it… even in the martial world, there’s nothing decent to eat.’
I couldn’t carelessly grab fruit in this typhoid situation. Eating only what was prescribed felt like torture.
I absolutely must add MSG to the porridge rations.
There was supposedly a miraculous chef in the Golden Blood Hall who added MSG flavor and even ruined an inn’s reputation with it—I must collaborate with them.
I ground my teeth.
Screeeech-
Noeji let out another long howl from outside.
‘The enemy draws near.’
Days were for surgery, nights were for war.
A bitter smile escaped my lips.
* * *
Oh Dok-mun had sent roughly two hundred martial artists.
The shaman was nowhere to be seen.
“The village is in sight.”
“The Jegallim Family is renowned among Gangho’s finest for their cunning. We must exercise caution.”
Despite the elder’s words, I kept losing my way as I tried to enter, for some reason.
“It appears to be an application of the Stone Sickness Eight Formation…”
“We departed with maximum haste, yet they’ve constructed their formation array this quickly.”
I halted the martial artists.
Soon, a figure who appeared to be their representative emerged and shouted loudly.
“I am Aricho, Patriarch of the Worm Sect of Oh Dok-mun–! Veiled Madman! How dare you construct formation arrays and cause chaos within our domain–!”
At his cry, I revealed myself.
“Patriarch, it’s an honor to meet you.”
I performed a martial salute from a relatively close distance.
However, even if the distance appeared close to the eye, with the Jegallim Family’s formation array now established, reckless attacks were impossible.
Yet I continued speaking with complete composure, showing not a trace of tension in this situation.
“Causing chaos? That’s a grave misunderstanding. I’m simply treating the plague. Since Oh Dok-mun abandoned treatment, the Baekrin Medical Guild stepped forward.”
Judging by words alone, it sounded like ordinary relief work.
It would have seemed even more so if not for the martial artists wielding swords and spears.
“Nonsense! Don’t you know that divine wrath cannot be cured! Whatever sorcery you’re using to temporarily treat them, it must be false.”
At those words, I narrowed my eyes.
‘Sorcery. Yes. I suspected he’d say something like that.’
Soon, Aricho infused his voice with inner force and shouted loudly.
It was the local dialect, but by now I could understand it well enough.
“All gentry of this village, listen! If you kill those afflicted by divine wrath right now, I shall forgive you!! But if you resist, I swear upon my name that I will not spare a single one of you–!!”
My expression turned cold at those words.
‘Has Oh Dok-mun truly crossed a line that should never be crossed?’
It wasn’t just me—the four martial artists of the Baekrin Medical Guild’s forces also gnashed their teeth in fury.
‘Are these even human beings? To those in such desperation…’
As expected, one of the villagers cried out.
“That’s… that’s right! We mustn’t listen to outsiders! Didn’t the shaman say that divine wrath can only be resolved through sacrifice!”
It could have been mere fanaticism.
But another person chimed in as if in agreement.
“Even if we resist Oh Dok-mun’s martial artists now, won’t the Baekrin Medical Guild people eventually leave anyway!”
“What will become of us after they’re gone?”
In the turbulent atmosphere, someone shouted as if inciting the crowd.
“Outsiders, fall back!”
“Outsiders, get out!”
Watching them rush out with farming tools as if they’d been waiting for this moment, I considered the situation calmly.
‘Hmm, it seems there are indeed agitators planted among the residents.’
I knew well enough that the notion of “everyone suffering together, let’s resolve this harmoniously” was nothing but a fairy tale.
It was ironic.
There were those who trusted Oh Dok-mun, who had ruled over them for so long, far more than the Baekrin Medical Guild that had just promised to protect them.
And their numbers were greater than I’d anticipated.
Even the wavering ones could be swayed by such agitation.
‘What are humans, really? Those people must be doing this just to survive a little longer.’
What had Oh Dok-mun promised to those he was inciting?
I knew for certain that freedom was never part of it.
But could freedom truly be more precious than tomorrow’s survival?
Perhaps living as one always had, accepting blows as they came, existing in a miserable yet comfortable stability—that too was a way.
My solar plexus seemed to burn black with something.
Grrrrgh—
The earth trembled.
This sound must surely be tinnitus.
Does it hinder combat? Does it hinder saving lives?
Are my functions intact?
Blue eyes analyzed me with mechanical precision.
Yet there was one question even the vaunted Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong could not answer.
‘Why must I save people at all?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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